A Hobbit's Tale
by cheeseandcrackersaregoodforyou
Summary: A young female hobbit by the name of Iris longs for an adventure but when she gets a chance at one, it is not at all like she thoughts.
1. A Long Expected Party

**New story! I will be updating my other story as well. I hope it is original, I haven't read a story alike it yet, but even if it's been done before, I hope to add my own touch to it. **

**Don't own Lord of the Rings-books or movies. **

Iris hummed quietly to herself as she got ready for Bilbo's big birthday party. She still couldn't believe that it was his one hundred and eleventh birthday. She briefly wondered how this was possible, how he could have lived so long, but she had no idea, so she stopped and continued to get ready for his party. She was very excited about this party; it had been talked about for a very long, even before he sent out his invitations. Also, the rumours of fireworks astounded her, as she'd never seen them before. Fireworks had not been seen in the Shire for a century.

Soon she was ready; she had changed into her nicest dresses and done her curly brown hair up in a bow, so she set off down the path that would take her to Bilbo's house. Many thought Bilbo to be peculiar, but not she. She'd always loved to go to Bilbo's house, as the stories he told and the songs he sang always enchanted her. They were stories of adventure, courage and friendship. She longed to go on an adventure herself, but as a girl, she was expected to help around the house or get married and settle down. She had long given up the hope of going on an adventure, fully knowing that it was not possible. She sighed to herself, even though she had given up hope of ever going on an adventure that did not mean that she couldn't dream of it. She often dreamt of fighting off evil, even though she had no clue how to handle a sword or a bow. She also knew that she would most likely never learn since it was nearly unheard of a female hobbit to learn swordsmanship. So she just dreamt about it, whilst keeping reality in check.

Before long, the large field where the party was to be held came into view. Guests were already streaming in. She walked up to it, greeted Bilbo and politely accepted his gift before giving him one in return. Inside, there were song and dances, and in general, very merry. There were great big tents set up with lights adoring them. Fireworks went off every now and again, setting light to the gradually darkening sky. There was, as well a large banner with "Happy Birthday Bilbo Baggins" inscribed on it that hung between two trees. All in all, it looked to be a fantastic party. People were already dancing, eating and getting drunk.

She noticed Bilbo going around and politely greeting people and Sam sitting at one of the tables, stealing quick glances at Rosie who was dancing and looking like she was having a good time. She could relate to the lad, as she was quite shy herself and didn't like talking to strangers. She mostly talked to people she knew and avoided speaking to people she didn't know. She did not have many friends, mostly just Rosie, Sam and Frodo. She was acquainted with Merry and Pippin, but their constant tomfoolery made her feel anxious around them, as though they were going to pull a prank on her at any moment.

'Ah, poor guy, she thought to herself, too shy to ask her for a dance. Actually, it was like poor _Rosie. _She knew the pretty hobbit fancied Sam but wasn't sure if he was interested in her since he was so shy. It would take forever for him to ask her out.' She laughed quietly to herself when she noticed Frodo push him toward her, forcing him to dance with Rosie. Rosie sure would be happy about this. She noticed Frodo laughing as well and made her way over to him.

She and Frodo had been friends for many years, mostly because of their shared admiration of Bilbo. They both enjoyed his tales and, although they didn't know it, both wished they could go on similar adventures to his. As she approached him, she noticed how nice he looked in his fancy clothing. She had fancied Frodo for some time now; his blue eyes _were_ quite captivating. He also had such caring and friendly personality, who wouldn't like him? But they were just friends, so she pushed away these emotions and sat down by him. He turned when she did this and smiled at her. "Are you having a good time?" he asked.

"Yes, this is quite the party," she replied, smiling back at him. They were both silent for a minute before Frodo asked her if she would like to dance. She shyly nodded and allowed him to pull her towards the dance area. They followed the circle, his hands on her waist and holding her hand, while she put other hand that was not in his grasp on his shoulder and twirling all the way around the circle. As they were dancing, they saw Sam and Rosie ahead of them and both laughed at the sight. The two would be great together, if Sam would only pluck up some courage. "I saw how you pushed him towards her. I should thank you for that as I knew that Rosie was hoping to dance with him tonight," Iris laughed. Frodo looked at her in surprise and said, grinning,

"Did you see that? The poor boy wanted to just go get some ale, but I wouldn't allow that. Although I didn't know that Rosie had wanted to dance with him as well."

"Yes, I did. It was really quite fun, she replied, "But didn't you see her sneak glances at him as she went by? She was asking him to ask her to dance with her eyes," she giggled. Frodo laughed and answered,

"No, I didn't. But that is quite a turning of events. I thought his fancy was one-sided. Sam will be pleased to hear that though."

"No, Rosie's liked him for a while now, but didn't think he liked her, since he was so shy around her," She responded. "I'm sure he will be mighty pleased to hear that. Just don't say it was from me," she added.

Frodo laughed and replied, "Isn't that a sign of someone liking you?" to which Iris retorted,  
>"Yes, it usually is. I tried to convince Rosie if this but she just thought it was nonsense,"<br>"Oh well, I'm sure they'll get together sooner or later. Can't hold it off for too long." he said.  
>"Yes, hopefully they will" she said with an amused smile.<p>

By this time they had been dancing for quite a long time and mutually decided to sit down for a while and have a drink, but as they were walking towards the seats, they saw one of the tents suddenly rocket into the air, with a rocket underneath it. Iris briefly wondered by there was tent on the rocket, but as the rocket exploded into a magnificent display of colours, she stopped thinking about it and joined in with the cheering.

At first, they thought that was all, but just as they were turning around to join the party again, people started to scream and they all turned to see that the firework had transformed into a into the shape of large dragon that stooped down onto the party. All the people at the party screamed and started to run away from the monstrous dragon. Iris noticed Frodo run to Bilbo's aid and heard him tell him to watch out for the dragon, to which Bilbo mumbled something like, "There hasn't been a dragons here for 1000", but Frodo didn't reply and just pulled him to floor, to safety.

She quickly ducked down as well, and once the dragon had gone over head, she glanced up with everyone else, to see the dragon explode into a bigger, brighter and more colourful display then the one before. She smiled brightly and applauded and shouted along with the rest of people.

Once all the excitement had died down, she stood up and went to find Frodo again, but saw him with Bilbo and decided to leave him for the time being, so she decided to go over to the food table to have something to eat. She picked up some bread and meat to eat and sat down at one of the chairs to eat it. Soon after she had finished, she heard people shouting for Bilbo to do a speech, she laughed and went over to join them in. Many people didn't like Bilbo's speeches as they went on for a long time and he often told parts of his stories, however, Iris didn't mind as much as she always liked listening to Bilbo. There was something about the way he told the stories always fascinated her.

Bilbo soon stood up and walked over to stand on a barrel. He cleared his throat and began, "My dear Bagginses, Boffins, Tooks, Grubs, Chubbs and Hornblowers, Bolgers, Bracegirdles and Proudfoots" Everyone cheered as their name was called,

"Proud_feet!_" an old hobbit said, with his feet on the table.

"Proud_foot _and Brown_,_" Bilbo repeated. Iris clapped loudly when her name was called as it was only her and her parents there.

Bilbo continued, "Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday!" As he said this, everyone clapped and cheered, Iris included. "But alas," Bilbo said, once all the excitement had died done, "one hundred and eleven years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable Hobbits."Everyone cheered once again and Iris thought to herself the Bilbo was indeed a very nice Hobbit.

Bilbo started up again, "I don't know half of you as well I would like and I like less than half of you as well as you deserve." Silence followed this statement, as people tried to figure out if that was a compliment or an insult. Iris didn't mind that much though, he was an odd thing, Bilbo Baggins, but that was all part of his charm. After a short amount of silence, Bilbo started speaking again, this time sounding uncommonly nervous, "I, uh", he said, whilst fiddling with something in his pocket, "I have things to do." When he said this, Iris noticed him pull something out of his pocket and hold it behind his back. She wondered what it could be. Bilbo spoke once more, "I've put this off for far too long" he said, as if he was saying it to himself, not the audience. Everyone looked at him in puzzlement. He continued, this time speaking loudly, "I regret to announce is this is the end!" he exclaimed before pausing and adding, "I'm going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell." By this time, everyone was looking him in amazement and puzzlement. Why was he going? And where was he going?

The Sackville Baggins, however, looked at each other in excitement, maybe this time they would finally get Bags End! If that silly old Bilbo left then surely Frodo would go too! He did, of course, love him dearly and would probably do anything for him. This speech was suddenly sounding to very good...

Bilbo, however, was not finished nor gone just yet, he whispered, "Goodbye", before suddenly vanishing into thin air. Everyone in the crowd gasps and Iris noticed Frodo looking shocked. But wouldn't have known? He and Bilbo were very close and she would have thought that he would have known if he was going to play a prank. But she was soon distracted by other hobbits running around the place shouting and searching for Bilbo. 'I guess that's the end of the party then', she thought to herself and went off in the direction of her house; not knowing that nearby an invisible hobbit was making his way to Bags End.


	2. Disappearances and an Unknown Listener

**And here is chapter 2! I hope you liked the first chapter and that it wasn't too long. I wanted to make it shorter but couldn't seem to find the right place to. **

The next day, Iris soon found out that Gandalf had abruptly left the Shire and that Bilbo was gone as well. Bilbo being gone was something that she expected, but not the disappearance of Gandalf. She had expected him to stay with Frodo for at least a while before leaving. But he hadn't and Iris supposed he was just a spontaneous person, and left it at that.

The talk to the disappearance of Bilbo lasted for a very long-a year and a day. It become a story that was told to young hobbits and before long, the story of Bilbo's disappearance was turned into a legend, a tale of a strange hobbit called Mad Baggins who would disappear with a flash and return with bags of jewels and gold. However, many people of the Shire thought that Baggins had finally gone mad and had gone off into the distance, only to meet a probably watery but tragic end.

Iris did not believe such rumours. She thought that Bilbo had gone off exploring again and would maybe return once again with gold and jewels, surprising everyone. Frodo, it seemed, had carried on Bilbo's oddness as he refused to go into mourning and threw a great party in honour of Bilbo the following year. He only invited a few people, Iris included, but it was still a magnificent event. He continued this tradition every year, until finally; people got used to it and accepted it.

Frodo lived alone, much to Iris' dismay. She thought he ought to stay with a friend now that Bilbo and Gandalf were gone, but it seemed that Frodo liked living in solitude much alike Bilbo had. So instead of complaining, Iris instead made sure to make weekly visits to Bag End to check up on him and see how he was going. Many others also visited Bag End, as he was quite friendly with the younger descendants of Old Took. Frodo's closet friends, besides Iris, were Pippin Took and Merry Brandybuck and he was often seen going around the Shire with them in tow. He also took to wandering around the Shire and sometime even far from his home.

As time passed, Iris and many other people noticed that Frodo seemed to be alike in Bilbo in more ways than liking to live by his self; he seemed to not age much, like Bilbo had done. He stayed fit and energetic for long after he should have not. Some people thought it was just luck or a family trait, but Iris wasn't too sure.

Gandalf had passed through the Shire every now and again, to check up on Frodo. His visits were always very short, staying for only a few hours before going early the next day, before the sun rose. However, after a while, he stopped visiting completely. For nine years, Gandalf did not drop by Frodo. Frodo thought that he had given up on Hobbits and lost interest, but Iris, for some reason, was sure there was a motive behind Gandalf's absence. Something inside her was telling her that he would come back, sooner or later. And on one evening, he did come back.

On that particular evening, Iris was walking home from visiting Rosie, when she saw a lone figure ahead. She stopped at looked intently at the figure for a moment, before realizing it was Frodo. Once she had figured this out, she smiled happily and decided that she might as well say hello to him and ask how he was. Walking a bit faster down the hill, she soon came up to his house. She noticed that it was unusually dark so she decided to peer into a nearby window to see if anything was wrong, before coming into the house.

Inside, she saw Frodo look around the rooms, before a shadow someone came up behind him. But before she could scream out a warning to Frodo, the person placed a hand on Frodo's shoulder and Gandalf came out of the shadows. She nearly sighed in relief but stopped herself. Gandalf seemed to be very worried about something, and although she knew it was wrong and that she should leave, she was very curious and decided to hide and find out what Gandalf was so worried about.

"Is it secret, is it safe?" she heard Gandalf ask Frodo in an urgent tone. She watched as Frodo went to a nearby chest and opened it. He threw maps and other objects out of the chest before finally he pulled out a tattered, old envelope. Gandalf quickly snatched up the envelope before throwing it into the close by fireplace. Iris was thoroughly puzzled by this action. Why would he throw an old envelope into the fire? If that was what he was so worried about, then why did he just destroy it? Maybe it was dangerous, that's why he destroyed it. Frodo seemed to think the same thing as he said, "What are you doing?" in a very surprise tone.

When the envelope was nearly fully burnt, Gandalf picked up some large tongs and he leaned over to pick something up from the fiery depths of the fireplace. Iris could not see what it was until he pulled the tongs out of the fire and lifted the tongs into the air. Once he had done that, she could clearly see that between the tongs was a large, golden ring. She wondered briefly how it was not melted but was soon distracted when she noticed Gandalf tell Frodo to hold out his hand, stating that the ring was quite cool. But how could it be cool? It had just been fire. Nevertheless, she saw that Frodo had stretched his hand out for the ring and watched in growing amazement as Frodo didn't seem to react at all to the heat that the ring was supposed to possess.

She silently watched as Gandalf commanded Frodo tell him what he saw and if he could see anything on the ring. All she could see was a plain, golden ring, but Gandalf apparently thought it was somewhat different. At first, Frodo, like Iris, could see nothing unusual on the ring but after a minute or two of looking at it, he suddenly exclaimed, "Wait, there are markings." She watched in awe as, if by an invisible hand, markings appeared on the ring in a language unknown to her. She heard Frodo say that it was Elvish and she wondered if there was something about this ring that was special. Gandalf indentified in as the language of Mordor and Iris had to stop herself from gasping at loud. Eyes wide with fear, she leant forward slightly, still out of view, to hear more about this ring. She was sure by now that there was indeed something special about this ring. Gandalf translated the strange words on the ring to be "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." As Gandalf said this, Iris felt a shiver of fear pass down her back. Just from those words, Iris knew that the Ring was special and also very dangerous.

Iris watched intently as Gandalf continued, telling Frodo that the ring in his hand was the One Ring that had been forged by the Dark Lord Sauron in the fires of Mount Doom and that it was taken by Isildur from the hand of Sauron himself. Although Iris had no clue what the One Ring was, or who Sauron was or where Mount Doom was, she did understand that these they were all wicked and dangerous. Frodo then said something about Bilbo finding the ring in Gollum's cave, which puzzled Iris as she didn't remember hearing about him finding a ring or telling her anything about anyone called Gollum. But Gandalf seemed to know the story, so she decided to keep watching and maybe she would find out. Also, she was, by now, very much interested in the ring and its history, even though it was probably a very dark one.

As Gandalf talked on, Iris found out that Bilbo had been in possession of the ring for sixty years and that it has been the reason for his long life. She wondered at how a piece of jewellery could prologue someone's age for so long. Gandalf continued, telling Frodo, and, although he was not aware of it, Iris, of the evil that was occurring in Mordor, that ring was awoken and that it had heard the call of its master and wanted to get back to him. Iris was thoroughly shocked to hear that, although he was destroyed, Sauron's spirit still lived because it had bonded itself to the surviving ring that now was sitting on Frodo's table. She learnt whilst crouched behind a large bush near a window, that this Dark Lord Sauron had survived and that his Orcs had multiplied. Whatever Orcs were, Iris did not know. But she got the feeling from the way that Gandalf said it that it was not a good thing that there were more of them than before.

Gandalf sustained this dark story, saying that the Dark Lord had rebuilt his fortress in Mordor. He told of how he only needed the Ring to destroy all of Middle Earth, and how he was seeking it, all of his strength going to find the Ring. How the ring as well, wants to go to his master and be united once more. "They are one," Gandalf said, "the Ring and the Dark Lord. He must never find it". All of this made Iris feel nearly sick with disgust. How could this little Ring be the downfall of Middle Earth? Yet, Gandalf seemed to think that, and so Iris knew with a heavy heart, that it must be true.

Abruptly, Frodo stood up and said "Alright, we put it away, keep it hidden. We never speak of it again. No one knows it's here, do they?" when Gandalf didn't reply, he repeated, "Do they, Gandalf?" Iris nearly felt sick when she thought of someone coming after Frodo because of the Ring and was anxious to hear Gandalf say that no one did. But, alas, he didn't. Instead he said, "There is one other who knew Bilbo had the Ring. I looked everywhere for the creature Gollum. But the enemy found him first. I don't know how long they tortured him, but amiss the endless screaming and inane babble, they discerned two words; Shire! Baggins!" when Iris heard this, she felt nearly fell over. Shire? Baggins? So they knew that it was here, and that Frodo had it? This was even worst then she had thought, and she immediately felt a great deal of protectiveness come over her. She would not let them have Frodo, no matter what.

Frodo seemed to be thinking the same thing as her as he asked "Shire? Baggins? But that would lead them here!" suddenly, he thrust the Ring in Gandalf's direction whilst saying; "Take it, Gandalf! Take it! But Gandalf said he could not, even when Frodo said he must and said that he was giving it to him. He explained that Frodo could not offer him it as he was tempted by it, and that dared not to take it, even if it meant to keep it safe. He asked Frodo to understand that although he could take the Ring to desire to do well, it would, through him, create a power that was too great and too powerful to imagine. Frodo looked helpless for a minute before saying, desperately, "But it cannot stay in the Shire!" to which Gandalf replied,

"No, it cannot"

Frodo looked resolved and curled the Ring in his hand before saying, "What must I do?"

"You must leave, and leave quickly." As Gandalf said this, Iris started and thought to herself, 'What, Frodo is to leave! I must go with him! I cannot leave him to do this by himself'. As she thought this, Frodo rushed around the house, picking up items he would need. While he did this, he asked "Where do I go?" to which Gandalf replied,

"Out of the Shire. To the village of Bree."

Hmm, Bree. Iris did not know where that was, but hoped that Gandalf would tell Frodo were it was, so she could follow him.

Frodo, meanwhile, whispered "Bree" to himself, before inquiring where Gandalf would be going to. Gandalf answered that he would be waiting for him there at the inn of the Prancing Pony. Frodo requested t if the Ring was to be safe there, to which Gandalf retorted with the positive answer of "I don't know Frodo. I don't have any answers. I must see the head of my order. He's both wise and powerful. Trust me. He'll know what to do. You'll have to leave the name of Baggins behind. That name is not safe outside of the Shire. Travel only by day and stay off the road."

Despite being a bit flustered at such a short notice journey, Frodo answered, "I can cut across country easily enough."

Gandalf smiled and suddenly became sentimental, "My dear Frodo. Hobbits really are amazing creatures. You can all their ways in a month. And yet, after a hundred years, they can still be surprise you.

There was suddenly a rustling sound coming from a bush two down from Iris. She ducked down, and hoped that she would not be spotted as well as Gandalf and Frodo both turned in the direction of the sound. Gandalf immediately commanded Frodo to get down and he picked up his stick and slowly walked over the where the bush was. The bush rustled again, and Gandalf quickly pounced, pounded his stick down on the bush. Straight away, there came the audible sound of someone going groaning in pain, before Gandalf instantly picked something up from the bushes and slammed it onto the table. That something turned out to be Samwise Gamgee, Frodo's gardener and loyal friend. Gandalf looked positively enraged at the sight of Sam being there, so Iris slid down deeper into the bushes.

"Confound it all, Samwise Gamgee! Were you eavesdropping?" Gandalf near yelled at Sam.

Sam looked positively frightened at the sight of the angry wizard and hesitantly replied, "I haven't been dropping no eaves. I was cutting grass under the window."

"A little late for trimming the verge, don't you think?"

Sam answered, "I heard raised voices."

"What did you hear? Speak!" demanded Gandalf

"Nothing important! I heard about a ring, a Dark Lord and about the destruction of the world, but, please Mr Gandalf, don't hurt me. Don't turn me into anything _unnatural._" He said in a scared tone of voice.

Gandalf suddenly looked very amused by the conversation and answered, "No?" in a joking tone of voice, sharing a grin with Frodo. But Sam didn't seem to notice this and still looked scared. "Perhaps not," he continued, "I've thought of a _better _use for you. You shall go away with Mr Frodo."

Iris, at this point, looked shocked. He was eavesdropping on a secret and dangerous thing, yet he is rewarded by being allowed to go with Frodo! This would _not _do. Making up her mind, she quietly got up and went home to her house. She was, at the time, living by herself as she had a job at the Green Dragon as a barmaid and with the money she earned there, bought herself a house of her own. She quickly went to her room and packed some warm clothing, wishing for once that she had some clothes _other _than dresses, as they would have been more appropriate for this kind of journey. Once she had packed all her clothes she needed, she went to her kitchen and packed away some food that would last long. Before long, she had all her things packed and was ready to go. As she walked out of her door and started walking in the direction of Sam and Frodo, she thought to herself, 'Finally, I'm going on the adventure I've always wanted.' And with that, she set off into the horizon.

**Hey! Hope you like this chapter! I hope that all the dialogue wasn't too long. Sorry, most of it was from the movies or the books, but I couldn't really change it that much. But, boy did it hurt my arms, writing all that stuff. I'm glad it's finished. **


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